Recently brought home some nice basking rocks and a large piece of wood from a local fresh water creek. Have read online about sterilizing but have seen mixed opinions. I have scrubbed rocks and wood with metal wire brush with antibacterial soap and water and then rinsed. Then did a half peroxide and half white vinegar spray on them and let it sit about 10 min then rinsed hot water. The wood is too large for oven and rocks too large to boil. Do you think what I have done will make them safe and killed any possible parasites on wood or rock?
sterilizing wood/rock
- Thread starter themamaj
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The rocks should be fine with a scrub. If the wood won't fit in the oven, then I'd leave it out for a bit after a scrub to see if any bugs are in it. If it doesn't have many knots/holes in it, then it should be OK. I'd just let it dry out really well before using it. Going forward, the surfaces can be cleaned the same way by scrubbing and sanitized using a steam cleaner or by spraying F10SC on it.
kingofnobbys
BD.org Sicko
What lots do here (Australia) is as follows :
* Get rock or fallen tree branch or huge bit of bark , local area of bush (NOT from NPs).
* give it good blast with the garden hose to remove loose stuff
* big heavy duty BLACK plastic bag (in goes the item)
* find a good spot in the backyard that get full sun all day (works great in summer when it gets HOT and the days are VERY LONG)
* come back after 2 weeks , no bugs , they've all been cooked.
* Get rock or fallen tree branch or huge bit of bark , local area of bush (NOT from NPs).
* give it good blast with the garden hose to remove loose stuff
* big heavy duty BLACK plastic bag (in goes the item)
* find a good spot in the backyard that get full sun all day (works great in summer when it gets HOT and the days are VERY LONG)
* come back after 2 weeks , no bugs , they've all been cooked.
kingofnobbys":2xksmpwu said:
That's a good thought. That setup should heat up like a compost pile and kill off anything inside. From then on you could focus on surface cleaning as needed.
As far as steam cleaners go, I have a tea kettle sized 1000w Shark that works well. It has a small nozzle so it takes time to clean large items. It's great for getting into nooks and crannies though.
I have a £30 steam cleaner which works well inside the viv and for decor.
For rocks collected from the beach I used to scrub then water soak, next soak in 5% bleach. Rinse and soak twice more in plainwater. Let air for a week.
The steam cleaner is good because even F10 doesn't kill coccidia, but extreme heat does.
For rocks collected from the beach I used to scrub then water soak, next soak in 5% bleach. Rinse and soak twice more in plainwater. Let air for a week.
The steam cleaner is good because even F10 doesn't kill coccidia, but extreme heat does.
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